[AntiVirus + Ubuntu] was - Re: And another Ubuntu convert!

[Preston Kutzner]

On Jan 21, 2009, at 11:54 PM, Mihamina Rakotomandimby (R12y) wrote:

> Preston Kutzner wrote:
>> It doesn't hurt to have anti-virus software installed on your Linux
>> desktop, but it's not essential like it is when running Windows.
>
> Ok, that's the system-wide part of the problem.
>
> Now, is Linux that more secure for user-only documents?
>
> I ask because one of the things viruses destroy is our personnal data,
> those in $HOME. And those are important data.

Well, since most document viruses are written in VBScript, and  
VBScript doesn't run under Linux, there's not really that risk.  OOo  
has some limited support for document scripts in MS Word files, etc.,  
but they don't have the destructive nature that they do under Windows,  
because the applications aren't tightly integrated into the OS like  
Office is.  MS Office does use undocumented API's that hook directly  
into Windows.  That's part of the reason it loads so much faster than  
other, similar productivity suites such as OOo and Corel's offering  
(assuming that's still around).  It's also part of the reason that  
they're as destructive as they are.  VBScript is part of WSH (Windows  
Scripting Host) which is Windows's equivalent to BASH scripting.  You  
can control a LOT of windows functions using VBScript.  Unfortunately,  
it goes back to the fact that most users are running with  
Administrator privileges, so those VBScripts have access to everything  
in the system.

Most likely, if a document is infected, it won't really do much to  
your computer if your running Linux, but you would still be able to  
pass it on to Windows user.  Granted, there might be some document  
viruses out there that could do damage to files in your $HOME, but I  
haven't seen or heard of any.  Someone may disprove me here, but I'm  
just going from my experience and from what research I've done.
>
>
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